Welcome to Camelot?
by Millennium Slinky
Summary: Yugi, Jou, Kaiba, Malik, Bakura, and Otogi are somehow transported back to the time of King Arthur. Welcome to Camelot: a place of steel and spells, a place where evil power has long lain dormant... *UPDATED*
1. Time Traveling

**Welcome to Camelot?**

Disclaimer: Don't own.

A quick recap: Six of the Yu-gi-oh characters are somehow transported back to the time of King Arthur. Welcome to Camelot: a place of steel and spells, a place where evil power has long lain dormant...

**Chapter 1: Time Traveling**

It had been late summer by the time Gawain's father let him ride back to Camelot – or more accurately, by the time his stepmother did. Morgan le Fay was used to being obeyed. By her family, her friends, and her enemies.

Gareth and Gaheris were still too young to start their training as squires. Like Gawain, they had known since they were very young that they wanted to be knights. Some of Morgan's stubbornness must have rubbed off on her three stepsons, for it was a trait infamous to their house.

Gawain had considered taking a squire of his own for a long time. He could use the extra help, after all, and sometimes his fellow knights had nagged him about it. There had been rumours of war, of course, and many of the local lads were eager for a fight.

That hadn't been his excuse to get away from Morgan, of course. He'd given her some vague tale about receiving an urgent summons from the king. And Morgan, while being a sorceress, couldn't defy her ruler, her own half-brother.

Gawain had met Sir Percival about halfway there – he'd been participating in a tourney near Joyous Gard – and they had ridden together until they reached Camelot.

It was there that things had taken a turn for the worse.

**xxxxx**

The worst mistake Yugi had made that night was falling asleep.

Yes, it had been a perfectly ordinary day. Yes, everything had been perfectly normal, nothing unexpected or strange. He'd been lying awake in bed around eleven, counting the cracks in the ceiling. Soon enough he'd fallen asleep.

And then he had woken up.

And he was in an entirely different place.

His first reaction had been to scream and cover his head with a pillow, but within minutes he grew brave enough to take another look at his surroundings. This time he didn't scream. It wasn't his bedroom at home, not by a long shot. He was in a small stone room, filled with what looked like three cots. He himself was lying on one, instead of in his own bed.

_Yugi, what's wrong?_

Yugi tried desperately to think of an excuse. _Uh...nothing. Everything's normal._

_You're not telling me the truth._

Without a further word, the pharaoh separated from the keeper of his Puzzle, forming a translucent, ghostlike body that would allow him to see the situation through his own eyes. Ghost or not, the aforementioned eyes abruptly expanded to the size of trashcan lids.

"Where in all hell are we?"

Yugi looked around. The other three cots held three other boys. Yugi was nearly shocked out of his wits when he recognized the sandy-haired head of Katsuya Jounouchi. The boy mumbled something in his sleep.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of noise, coming through the wall. Maybe there was another room to their left. But whatever the case, the level of volume increased suddenly. There could be heard through the general confusion several outbursts, what seemed to be part of a shouted conversation:

"I SWEAR I'LL SET MY LAWYER ON YOU!"

"GIVE ME BACK MY RING!"

"NOT UNTIL YOU LET GO OF ME!"

The last one to speak added a rather long string of curses in what sounded like Egyptian, and then the two fell silent. Yugi quickly shook Jounouchi awake. "Jou! Get up!"

He blinked sleepily, caught sight of where he was -- or more like where he was _not_ -- and yelped.

At that moment a very frazzled-looking Seto Kaiba flung open the door to the small room, moved to one side of the door, and slammed it shut again. He leaned against the door for several seconds, panting, until he noticed the two boys and one spirit staring at him. "So, mutt," he said, and sneered at Jou, "You're here as well."

"Here?" Yami Yugi demanded. "Where is here?"

"The Middle Ages." The CEO shrugged. "To me it looks just like the Arthurian period in England."

"We've been transported...back in time?" the pharaoh said, still looking askance at him.

"Of course," Kaiba said dismissively, crossing his arms. "It's obvious. Look at the architecture...the clothes we're wearing..."

"Say what?" Yugi looked closer at Kaiba, realizing that he was wearing what appeared to be a long, high-collared tunic, and some sort of strange-looking pants.

And so were they.

"So...what happened over there?" Yami Yugi gestured to the left.

Kaiba sighed. "You won't believe it. The rest of them..."

"Our friends?" Yugi said hopefully.

"Not exactly," he muttered evasively. "That crazy white-haired boy who hangs out with you, and that other one with all the jewelry, and the one with the dice earring – "

Yugi and Jou groaned.

The CEO raised an eyebrow. "That's not the half of it. I haven't got my laptop, everyone seems to know my name but believes I've been living here all my life, and I asked someone what we were supposed to be doing and what we were here for an – "

"Whoa, slow down, Kaiba!" Jou said.

For once, Kaiba didn't take the chance to drop a dog comment. Instead he blinked, realizing that he'd been talking a mile a minute.

"So?" Jou prompted. "Who do they think we are?"

"Squires. Supposedly some knights will come around and choose squires from among us."

"Knights?" Yugi gulped. "As in...jousting? Lances?"

"Apparently." Kaiba nodded. "To prove that point further – look what I found in a pile of clothes under my bed."

He held up what was, unmistakably, a sword.


	2. Page, Squire, Knight

**Welcome to Camelot?**

Disclaimer: Don't own.

All of the knights except for Sir Donovan -- Mordred, Launcelot, Galahad, Gawain, and Percival -- have been taken from various Arthurian myths. Sir Donovan belongs to GriffinFire. Please excuse the ugly scene breaks. FF.N keeps eating my formatting.

**Chapter 2: Page, Squire, Knight**

Yugi dug under his own cot. And just as predicted, there was another sword. When he picked it up, oddly enough, it felt right in his grip -- even though he'd never held a sword before in his life. The blade was shorter than Kaiba's, as well as slimmer, as if it had been made specifically for someone his size. He hefted it for good measure and nodded at Kaiba to continue.

"Supposedly we all received basic training in weaponry last year, as pages." Kaiba shrugged. "I don't know. They seem to think we've lived here all our lives."

Jounouchi pulled out a longsword similar to Kaiba's. He looked apprehensively around the room. The other boys, none of which they knew, were thankfully still asleep.

Kaiba opened the door again, looked cautiously into the next room, and stepped out. The other three followed.

The room to the left look like a hurricane had gone through it. More like three hurricanes, actually. Otogi was seated on another cot, nursing a black eye, and there was a blur of fists and feet in the center of the room. One of them was undoubtedly the dark side of Ryou Bakura, having obviously gained possession of their shared body.

Otogi glared at the newcomers. The dice earring was still there, dangling from his left ear, though it looked rather out of place with the strange clothes.

Abruptly the fight stopped. The combatants backed away from each other.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the white-haired boy squeaked. Ryou was back in control of his body. "He just...doesn't forget old grudges easily."

The other boy was none other than the holder of the Rod. "I can see that," Malik rasped, rubbing his neck. There were several large bruises beginning to form on his face and arms. He extended a hand. "Look! He bit me!"

Ryou looked extremely guilty.

The three suddenly noticed the others.

"We're all supposed to be in the lower hall for breakfast," Kaiba said, sounding more like his usual controlling self.

"Oh?" And how do _you_ know?" croaked Malik.

"I happen to _talk_ to people," the CEO huffed angrily.

"I'm not going anywhere until I find my normal clothes!" muttered Otogi. All of the tunics they were wearing were the same dark blue color, nearly black, and the high collars were somewhat stiff. Yugi was suddenly reminded of Kaiba's old blue trenchcoat. "But first of all...how'd we get here? And how're we supposed to get back?"

Kaiba shrugged. "There's supposed to be a sorcerer of sorts here. Called Merlyn. But he doesn't talk to people much."

The six boys stared gloomily at each other.

"We'd best just do as squires are expected to do here, for now," Kaiba said, not looking at all pleased. "Right now we're supposed to be in the lower dining hall, so _that_ is where we're going."

**xxxxx**

Otogi stalled and spent about half an hour rearranging his hair, but they managed to drag him out and across the castle to the small, high-ceilinged room where they were served the Arthurian equivalent of breakfast. It was basically a thin, tasteless sort of porridge. Malik dubbed it "glop."

After they had gulped it down, they were hustled into a courtyard with the other squires and given blunt practice swords. They were paired up and told to review the basic positions and moves, then spar.

Ryou with Otogi, Kaiba with Jou, and Yugi with Malik. Jou growled at Kaiba, who said something under his breath that none of the others could hear. Jou heard it, though, and immediately leapt forward with his sword raised. Kaiba parried without blinking, then twisted his wrist quickly, jerking Jou's sword out of his hand. Jonouchi's sword landed in the dust of the courtyard. The two boys glared daggers at each other.

Suddenly, someone else intervened. "Never attack in anger." A red-haired man walked forward and picked up the practice sword. There was a kind twinkle in his blue eyes as he looked Jou up and down. He was wearing chainmail armor, and was carrying a helmet in the crook of his elbow. "Come with me."

Jou looked back at them nervously as he was led away.

It was then that they noticed the line of men in the shade of the courtyard's east wall. Stray bits of sunlight gleamed on shields and swords. They were knights.

A short while after, Yugi was called away by a tall young man with yellow hair and golden-red armor. Kaiba paired up with Malik, and they exchanged light blows back and forth, each trying to disarm the others. For some strange reason, the moves came naturally, as if they'd been memorized, practiced for years.

It went like that for a while, until a pair of knights, one young, one older, moved forward. They looked so much alike that they had to be father and son. The younger one smiled at Ryou and murmured something that the rest of them couldn't hear. Ryou nodded, and left with him. The older knight, his hair streaked with grey, watched Otogi for a while, then placed a hand on his shoulder.

Otogi visibly stiffened, then looked up at the knight. He studied him for a moment, emerald-green eyes narrowed, then barely inclined his head.

He headed off in the other direction, where their rooms were, and returned several minutes later with his sword and other equipment that they'd all found with their weapons.

And he left as well.

Kaiba and Malik were all alone in the middle of the courtyard. All the other probable squires had been chosen by a knight. They each concentrated on trying to hit the other.

There were two more knights watching them from a distance. Malik studied them out of the corner of his eye. One was extremely tall, with wild, blue-black hair. Two large garnets held his blue cloak over his shoulder. He carried a sword unsheathed, held lightly – a very familiar sword. There was a dragon on the crosshilt.

In fact, it looked just like one of the cards in his collection -- the Sword of Dark Destruction.

The other was somewhat shorter, swathed in a high-collared black cloak. His eyes were a pale grey, nearly hidden by a mass of sandy hair. He was leaning against the stone wall, exchanging idle words with the other knight, but his eyes strayed to the two boys in the middle of the courtyard.

Malik turned his head to one side to get a better look at the both of them. Seeing his chance, Kaiba lunged forward and deftly knocked his sword out of his hand.

Malik sighed and picked it up and turned back to Kaiba, then suddenly realized that Kaiba wasn't there. He'd been pulled to the side by the knight with the blue-black hair. They were deep in conversation. Soon enough they left him.

Malik stood by himself, in the middle of the courtyard, feeling extremely alone. He turned around and was about to go put his sword away when he found himself staring into the grey eyes of the other knight. He was only about four inches taller, but since they were nearly nose to nose, he had to tilt his head up to meet his gaze.

The knight nodded as a form of greeting. "You fight well."

Malik, not quite knowing what to do, said, "Thank you, sir." The added 'sir' felt automatic.

"So you are Malik Ishtar." The knight looked him up and down. "Merlyn was right. I sense a dark presence inside you, darker than any I have seen before."

Malik gulped. "Well...there is sort of...not really...but who are you?"

He smiled, somewhat grimly. "I am Mordred. And _you_ are my squire."

**xxxxx**

NEXT CHAPTER: For all those Ryou-and-Bakura fans out there we have an entire chapter on what happens to the boy who holds the Ring, and his master, Sir Galahad.


	3. Horses, Swords, and Very Angry Spirits

**Welcome to Camelot?**

Disclaimer: Don't own.

NOTE: Zekel Sha is the fictitious Spirit of the Eye made up for use in several of my previous YGO fics -- all of them, including this fic, date from when I had only seen the second season or so of the show, and had no knowledge of the actual Spirit of the Eye. Not that this isn't AU anyway, but whatever.

NOTE 2: The boys are squires to the knights as follows, in case it becomes confusing: Yugi with Sir Percival of Wales; Ryou with Sir Galahad the Pure (Launcelot's son); Jounouchi with Sir Gawain of Orkney (Arthur's nephew); Otogi & Sir Launcelot of the Lake; Kaiba & Sir Donovan of Dragon's Cove (belongs to GriffinFire); Malik & Sir Mordred Pendragon (Arthur's bastard son/nephew).

**Chapter 3: Horses, Swords, and Very Angry Spirits**

Ryou craned his neck, trying to take in as much of the surrounding countryside as possible. He tried to adjust himself to the rather strange sensation of riding on a horse. The horse was only trotting – but even so, he was jouncing up and down, the horse's harness jingling, a slim sword dangling on one hip.

He could sense the presence of the first spirit, sluggish and sleepy, then suddenly very much awake.

_Where have you taken us now?_ Bakura demanded. Still out of sorts, though not quite as profane as usual.

_Go away,_ Zekel Sha's voice mumbled irritably. _You woke me up. It can't be much past dawn._ A mental yawn interrupted the sentence. _It's only...wait._

_Our mortal vessel is wearing a sword,_ the tomb robber noted in amusement. _A sword. You're supposed to be the peaceful type._

_Oh, be quiet._ With an argument going on inside his head, he might very well fall off his horse.

_He told you to shut up, tomb robber. Suddenly he develops a...backbone..._ The other spirit, the spirit of the Sennen Eye, yawned again. _So,_ he continued, _You will now tell us where in all the fires of perdition we are._

_The word's hell, Zekel Sha_, said Bakura. _Not perdition._

_It means the same thing,_ argued Zekel Sha. _And I don't swear, anyway._

_You did once,_ cut in Ryou, keeping an eye on the approaching bridge. _When that Man-Eater Bug nearly swallowed you? It was after - _

_I remember. Don't remind me._ Zekel Sha, like Bakura, was not quite in the best of moods in the morning. Most of the time he kept to himself, anyway.

_...so first of all, you can tell us where we are. As I said in the beginning_ The tomb robber still sounded tired, belligerence aside. _What is this? A camp? A tournament?_

_Obviously not,_ commented Zekel Sha. _First of all, note the armor. And the sword. Not to mention the horse. And he's not even - _

Bakura grinned mentally. _He's not even wearing that sissy white sweater I keep telling him to get rid of!_

_That's not what I was going to say._

_Oh, you shut up,_ retorted Bakura.

_Vir molestus stultissimusque es_, said Zekel Sha primly. He didn't usually resort to insulting Bakura in his native tongue -- Ryou still hadn't figured out _what_ language it was -- but Bakura resented it, more out of habit that anything else, even though he didn't know whether Zekel Sha was reciting poetry or cursing at him.

_That's it!_ snapped Bakura. _Stop the damn horse!_

Both spirits suddenly separated -- he could see the trees and the road through their bodies, so he wouldn't be able to stop them, like always. They immediately dove at each other and started a fistfight. Ryou craned his neck around to keep an eye on them, while tugging desperately on the reins. The horse kept going.

"Excuse me...sir?" He had to shout – Sir Galahad was far ahead. "Could we stop for a moment?"

The knight's silver armor flashed as he turned around. "What is it, boy?" His eyes suddenly landed on the two in the distance and widened in shock. "Who -- ? Bandits? Peasants?"

Ryou sighed in relief as Galahad reined in his horse. His own slowed down and lowered its head to nibble the grass. "I...can explain. They're...uh..." He started chewing on his lower lip as he saw Bakura grab a fistful of Zekel Sha's hair and Zekel Sha land a punch on the left side of Bakura's face.

Galahad raised an eyebrow. "First of all, where did they come from?"

Ryou gulped. "They live -- if you can call it that -- in these." He drew Ring and the Eye from where they were tucked inside his shirt and held them out.

For some strange reason, Galahad flinched and shielded his eyes, as if they radiated some bright light. "Such darkness!"

Ryou stared at him, uncertain of how to respond to such a melodramatic reaction. "Yeah, I guess you could call them that..."

Galahad lowered the visor of his helmet and looked warily at the two Items in Ryou's hands. "When I first saw you, I realized how pure your soul was." A frown crossed his pale face. "I never thought you were the bearer of such evil." The frown deepened. "And they just appeared?"

"Yes. They can do that. Not actual physical bodies, though." Suddenly Ryou was afraid that Galahad would either abandon him or turn him in to some old priest for carrying around golden objects that carried dark magic.

The young knight shook his head, then chuckled. Ryou crossed his fingers that the chuckle wouldn't turn into one of Bakura's evil laughs. It didn't. Instead, he said wryly, "I suppose there's more to it than that." He looked back at the two spirits, who by now were stirring up a good-sized cloud of dust from the road. "I'm sure one such as you can keep them under control, or you could not have survived this long."

Ryou nodded in relief, then somehow convinced his horse to trot back towards the spirits. Galahad followed him. They both dismounted. Galahad stood there with a slightly deadpan expression on his face while Ryou stepped forward.

"Um...Bakura? Zekel?"

At least that brought a response out of the latter. "The name's Zekel _Sha_, dammit!" he muttered, then yelped as Bakura bit his forearm.

Ryou sighed, and resigned himself to negotiating their return into their respective items.


	4. Monty Python's Flying Circus

**Welcome to Camelot?**

Disclaimer: Don't own YGO, don't own Monty Python.

Forgive the filler chapter. D: And since this is some kind of AU (more like I never fully figured out which canon I was working with), I guess everyone lives in a generic English-speaking country. Or something. Forgive that, too. And forgive me for making Malik's split personality a spirit, because I didn't know he wasn't when I wrote this back in 2003. Forgive a lot of things, actually. Just pretend that Malik's split personality is the spirit of the Rod, and that Set just floats around in Kaiba's head.

**Chapter 4: Monty Python's Flying Circus**

Otogi, Kaiba, and Malik stared at each other.

"We've been _left_ here," said Otogi. "Aren't we supposed to be going off killing people with the rest of them?"

Kaiba chewed on his lower lip. "Sir Donovan said that Galahad, Gawain, and Percival were going to participate in a tourney in Cornwall. The rest of them have been called to a meeting of the Round Table."

Otogi frowned and started twirling his hair around one finger.

While the other two began to debate the possible reasons for them being left behind, Malik began to sing softly with a wicked grin on his face: "We're knights of the Round Table, we dance whene'er we're able; we do routines – "

_SHUT UP!_

Malik ignored his spirit's outburst and kept singing. "– and chorus scenes, with footwork impeccable – "

Kaiba broke what was now a heated argument with Otogi long enough to hiss over his shoulder at the Egyptian, "Shut up!" That, coupled with the CEO's trademark icy glare, was sufficient to reduce Malik to humming.

"We're supposed to be serving drinks at court," Kaiba muttered. "Serving drinks, for pity's sake!"

"Too high and mighty for us common folk, Kaiba?" Otogi smirked.

Kaiba growled at him. "Waiting tables is _not_ a dignified occupation!"

Malik, still humming, capered down the stairs after them.

Kaiba, turning as he led them down to the kitchens, raised an eyebrow and said, with an astonishingly deadpan expression on his face, "Is something wrong with him?"

Otogi was forced to muffle his laughter with both hands.

**xxxxx**

The kitchens were a warm, noisy part of the castle. The knights and nobles never came down here, but the squires were obliged to when on serving duty.

Kaiba showed the head cook – a small and lively middle-aged man – a note from his knight-master. The cook nodded his approval and gestured towards some trays of appetizers and fluted wine glasses.

Kaiba struggled through the mass of people, and said, just loud enough for the other two to hear, "We're supposed to fill the glasses ourselves."

However, Malik, when he saw the roasted pig on a platter with an apple in its mouth in the center of the room, simply couldn't resist shouting at the top of his lungs, "WE EAT HAM AND JAM AND SPAM A LOT!"

A silence fell over the room. Malik went into the next verse. "We're knights of the Round Table, our shows are for-midable!"

And to Kaiba's utter mortification, Otogi joined in. "But many times we're given rhymes that are quite unsing-able..." When the other teenager saw the venomous look that Kaiba was giving him, he simply shrugged and grinned.

Kaiba tried to ignore them and started pouring wine into the glasses from a large, full bottle, silently praying that the two insane squires wouldn't get up on the tables and dance. But thankfully, they didn't. It slowly quieted down to a loud whisper...and the rest of the people in the kitchen eventually dismissed them as loonies and went back to their work.

The CEO thrust a plate of delicacies into each of their hands and took the tray of wine glasses himself. The two others would have spilled it, he told himself.

With a hissed "Shut up!" he led them out of the kitchens and towards the large room where the king held court.

**xxxxx**

Well, to put it truthfully, the king wasn't really holding court at the time. Kaiba had known that beforehand. He was on the other side of the castle, most likely sitting at the head of the Round Table – not that round tables had heads; that was why they'd chosen a round table in the first place – and discussing wars and gory battles with his knights. Not something that he was very partial to. He'd seen his share of death, and there were many who would call him ruthless and cruel, but going about it in the Medieval way would be...considerably more messy.

So, of course, being squire to a knight who frequently engaged in tourneys and battles wasn't the best situation to be in. He was sure Malik would love it, the sadistic bastard. And the eternally-vain Otogi would probably be worried that his hair would get messed up or somesuch nonsense.

Come to think of it, Ryou Bakura positively abhorred violence of any sort. And _he_ had just gone galloping off with Sir Galahad, to meet up with Gawain and Percival at Cornwall. Tough luck for him. And come to think of it, his spirits – both of them – wouldn't be happy about their predicament.

And neither would Set. Kaiba hoped that he wouldn't choose now to emerge. It wasn't as if he hated the spirit – he was simply too high and mighty. Too arrogant. In fact, too much like Kaiba himself.

_What in the_ world _are you doing?_

The voice cut through his thoughts like a knife. Startled, he caught his foot on an uneven stone, lost his balance, and fell, probably for the first time in his entire life. And of course, it wasn't something he'd ever like to experience again.

He hit the floor hard, and waited for the inexorable tinkling noises as the glasses shattered into millions of pieces and wine spattered across the stones.

It never came. He cautiously lifted his gaze and saw the embroidered hem of a dark blue robe.

Kaiba suddenly remembered what or who it was that had made him drop the glasses in the first place. He sighed mentally. _Not you again._

_Yes. Me again._ The spirit flashed him one of his own trademark smirks, then twirled the tray on one finger carelessly. Kaiba winced, stood up, and snatched it back from spirit. Had he known that Set could do that -- catch things? Kaiba had thought he'd been as disembodied as the rest of them, when he wasn't in control. Which was most of the time.

He heard Malik and Otogi sniggering in the background. Whirling around, he snapped angrily, "Tell me, is there a _reason_ you're all so giddy?"

Malik grinned, showing all his teeth. "You don't want to know."

And they began to sing, again.

Except this time, Set joined in, a wicked smirk on his face. Damned if Kaiba knew where he'd managed to learn that ridiculous song... He groaned mentally and wished, as undignified as it would be, that he could faint clean away.

To what would later be his great surprise, he actually did.

**xxxxx**

NEXT CHAPTER: Gawain, Jounouchi, Percival, Yugi, and one very disgruntled pharaoh, in the middle of the wilderness, with sharp pointy metal objects...


	5. Scabbards, Surcoats, and More Horses

**Welcome to Camelot?**

Disclaimer: Don't own.

So I lied about this chapter. It actually starts where the last one ended.

**Chapter 5: Scabbards, Surcoats, and More Horses**

Otogi, Malik, and Set stopped singing, then exchanged guilty glances as they realized what had just happened.

"Tell me you weren't _trying_ to make him lose it," muttered Set, instantly sober. He balanced the platter of wine glasses on one finger and began to twirl it.

"Um..." said Malik, voicing both his and Otogi's current mental state. Otogi blinked his agreement.

Set sighed and thrust the platter into Malik's arms. Malik squeaked and attempted to hold both plates, nearly dropping them in the process. Just in time, Yami Malik appeared and grabbed the one closer to the floor. Malik opened his mouth -- since when was he able to turn himself solid? -- but the other retained his surly expression and made a shushing motion.

Otogi backed slowly away from both Egyptians.

"I'll take him back to his room..." Set grumbled, rolling his eyes in disbelief at the pure stupidity of the three mortals. That said, he began to drag his host back down the hall by the collar of his tunic.

**xxxxx**

Malik and Otogi, being relatively new squires, were not expected nor allowed to serve in the room that contained the Round Table. Instead they were shunted off to the Great Hall where Queen Guenevere and her ladies spent time with those knights who were not of the Round Table – this included many visitors from distant lands, and occasionally residents of the surrounding lands bearing news of evil warlords and ferocious dragons.

Malik suddenly found himself wondering how he knew all this.

He shrugged that disturbing thought off and committed himself to serving wine. How was it that he got stuck with the breakable objects? The spirit of the Rod and Otogi only had something that looked like a weird brand of pastries.

Most of the silk-clad noblewomen and even the Queen's five handmaidens seemed to be giving Otogi the eye. The Egyptian was immediately reminded of the crowd of giggling girls that always followed the dice master around – especially his three cheerleaders.

Otogi didn't seemed to notice – he was staring awestruck at Guenevere herself, unconsciously twirling a bit of his hair around one finger. She was certainly one of the most beautiful women any of them had ever laid eyes on – she had an exquisitely sculpted, perfectly complexioned face; her eyes were large and blue-green; her hair – which reached past her waist – was a rich red-gold that shone in the light from the stained-glass windows.

Well, it didn't matter if she was drop-dead gorgeous or not, and even though Otogi certainly deserved it, it wouldn't do to let him stand there and make a complete utter fool of himself.

Malik tried to sidle unobtrusively towards Otogi, ignoring the fact that his yami was bestowing a rather murderous glance upon one of the other squires. As the hall was somewhat crowded, it wasn't that hard to go unnoticed. "Snap out of it!" he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. When that didn't work, he elbowed the other teenager in the ribs.

Otogi blinked and looked as if he wanted to throttle the Egyptian – but fortunately, he was distracted as his plate nose-dived rather enthusiastically towards the floor.

Malik sniggered to himself and waltzed off. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as he had first thought.

**xxxxx**

Set frowned as he shook his descendant yet again. "Wake up!" he hissed. "You're actually supposed to be _doing_ something, you know!"

Kaiba remained decidedly unconscious.

It was then that he heard footsteps in the corridor outside. Someone knocked on the door. Set cursed. It couldn't be Malik or Otogi – they would never knock. It had to be one of the knights – no Arthurian squires slept in this room.

And the Arthurians didn't know about the sorcerer who shared Seto Kaiba's body.

_Stay or disappear – that is the question._ If he stayed, there would be some sort of uproar. If he disappeared, there would be no one to explain why a certain squire was out cold on his cot. _Well, they could assume he's been asleep_, the High Priest amended, _but he'd get in trouble for that when he's supposed to be –_

There was no time for further debate when the door was flung open. Set cringed.

Donovan of Dragon's Cove stood framed in the doorway. The High Priest froze and began to fade out –

"What the – " began the knight, then frowned. "Be you mortal or spirit?"

Set blinked, clearly expecting more of an outburst along the lines of 'Why the hell are there two Seto Kaibas here?' He almost began to say 'spirit,' but decided against it. But then again, in his current state – partially see-through – it was fairly obvious that he wasn't human – or even if he was, a spellcaster of terrible power.

The knight swept his eyes over the rest of the room, finally catching sight of Kaiba. "Why is he – what – "

Set decided to drop the high-and-mighty act, finally turning his body entirely opaque. "No time for questions. Have you been looking for m – for Kaiba?"

"Understandably," growled Donovan, eyes flashing. "He seems to be shirking his orders and – "

"No," he said smoothly. "You've got it wrong. He passed out -- the shock and everything -- and won't wake up."

The young warrior frowned. "I have received orders from the King himself that we are to depart at once to find Sir Percival."

Set deflated. "Sir Percival?" Yugi's – and more specifically, the _pharaoh's_ knight-master. He crossed his arms over his chest and added, somewhat childishly, "Why?"

Donovan's mouth tightened into a thin line. "You are a squire and do not need to know. It is a matter for Percival alone."

"I'm _not_ a squire," the High Priest said vehemently. At the other's skeptical expression, he said, "Yes, _he_ is. I'm merely the dark spirit living inside his head." The last sentence was said with what was hopefully a cross between one of Kaiba's trademark smirks and a sadistic, evil-looking, spine-chilling homicidal grin. And yes, hopefully this would cow Donovan into telling him what he wanted to know.

The knight's eyes narrowed to bare slits of sapphire blue. Set found himself cringing inwardly once again, wondering if he'd overdone it.

"Tell him he is to be in the stables in ten minutes," he snapped. "I will not accept any excuses. Remind him that he is my _squire_, and should behave as such." He stalked out of the room with all the hostility of an offended cat.

Set looked after him bemusedly, then made a small noise of exasperation, conjured water out of thin air, and splashed it in Kaiba's face.

As expected, he spluttered, nearly choked, and jumped up off of his cot ready to kill whoever had dared to do such a thing to him. Set merely grinned widely – reminding Kaiba uncomfortably of a cat in a book he'd read a long time ago – and informed his host of everything that had passed while he was out of it.

After he'd finished, the only thing Kaiba could do was open and shut his mouth, trying to formulate a coherent sentence.

"You look like a goldfish," noted Set.

Kaiba looked as if he was about to explode, then squeaked, "He said in _ten minutes_?"

"Well, five now."

"Grrrr..." Kaiba knelt down and began rummaging underneath his cot. He threw a number of small items into his saddlebags, then ill-temperedly yanked out his sword – still in the scabbard – a folded blue surcoat, and sleeveless leather jerkin.

"What are all those things? How'd they get there?"

"Don't ask." Set looked on, puzzled, as Kaiba pulled the jerkin on over his blue tunic and buckled the sword loosely around his waist. When he opened his mouth again, the other shook his head, picked up the saddlebags and surcoat, and pulled the spirit – who was still perfectly solid – out the door. "Look. I've lived here for the better portion of my life. These things are all that I own."

"But – "

"Yes, I _know_ it doesn't make sense," he snapped, "but we're stuck here, and the people who were here and knew us before we _knew_ we lived here would go absolutely _bonkers_ if we started gabbling about where we _think_ we come from."

"All right..." Set said slowly. "So right now our only option is to go along with this?"

"Yes."

They continued down the hall in silence, Set looking askance at his host's strange-looking – to him, at least – outfit. Kaiba seemed lost in his own thoughts, but kept walking. They had just reached the huge wooden doors to the courtyards when he stopped and said, "Hold these, would you?" and unceremoniously dumped the saddlebags into the High Priest's arms.

He slowly unfolded the sapphire-blue surcoat, letting it fall open as he held it up at shoulder height. Now revealed was the symbol that decorated the front – a dragon, curling in upon itself and biting its own tail, interlaced by silver vines. But the dragon itself -- it was dark blue with a faint purplish tinge, with a feathery crest upon its head and almond-shaped garnet eyes.

Kaiba stood frozen in shock.

"What?" said Set, nonplused. "His name _is_ Donovan of _Dragon's_ Cove."

"But..." Kaiba's eyes were still fixed upon the embroidered dragon. "It looks like the...the..."

"The what?" Set said innocently.

"The Serpent Night Dragon," he said breathlessly. "You don't think – "

Set made a shushing motion with one hand. "Speculate later. Don't foreshadow things so much."

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Kaiba snapped. He added, more puzzled than anything else, "Is the surcoat supposed to go on top of everything else, or does the belt have to go on top of the surcoat? I thought I was supposed to know these things. But I don't."

Set backed up several paces and squinted at his host. "I think the belt goes on top. How're you supposed to get the sword out of its case otherwise?"

Kaiba unbuckled the belt – dropping it on the polished floor – and yanked the surcoat on over everything else, then picked the belt and sword back up.

"You've got thirty seconds," warned Set, handing Kaiba the saddlebags.

The other barely restrained himself from using a colorful metaphor, then pushed the door open and walked across the courtyard at an astonishingly fast pace while buckling the belt once more around his waist. Set followed, rolling his eyes towards the sky and muttering about how no one believed in a higher power anymore.

Donovan was waiting for them at the entrance to the stables, holding the reins of a black horse. "...three...two...one..." He looked up as his squire skidded to a stop in front of him. "Good." Set glared as the sapphire-blue gaze once more landed on him. "I'm not going to bother to take another horse besides the two we already have," he said casually, "So your look-alike had better go back to where he came from or be left behind."

Set scowled and disappeared.

A blank look crossed Donovan's face – clearly he hadn't been expecting that. "How did he – "

"He did what you told him to do, sir," said Kaiba, trying to hide the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You were saying...?"

"Your horse," the knight muttered, casting a dark glance at the place where Set had been standing not a minute before, while gesturing in the vague direction of several horses.

Kaiba looked them over, puzzled, then advanced towards the largest one – a huge roan warhorse with liquid brown eyes. The horse made a sort of grunting noise, then tossed its head as if in warning.

"Don't go near Gringalet!" barked Donovan. He was already mounted on the black horse, his armor glinting in the light that filtered through the stable windows. "Haven't you been told that already?"

"Uh...of course, sir," Kaiba said meekly while backing away. He could've sworn he saw fire come out of the horse's nostrils just then...

_You idiot. You say you've lived here all your life and now you don't even know which horse is yours!_ Set grumbled, then added, _Shouldn't you recognize it?_

_I guess so..._ said the other, somewhat shaken. He cast an eye over the other creatures on either side of Gringalet. Brown horse, no...grey horse, no...dark brown, no...white horse! Yes!

The creature looked friendly enough, and it nickered as if in recognition as he entered its stall.

_Strange,_ the High Priest mused. _White horse. Blue eyes._ He laughed mentally. _A blue-eyed white horse._

_Just coincidence..._ Kaiba told himself. As an afterthought, he said, half to himself, half to Set, _Her name's Chiara._

_What?_ Set sputtered.

_What's the matter?_

_Nothing, nothing...saddle the horse already! __He's_ giving you a funny look. There was no doubt as to who he meant – the spirit seemed to have already developed a loathing for the knight he hardly knew.

Kaiba lifted the saddle from its space on the back wall, placed it on Chiara's back, then firmly buckled it around her stomach. Not loose, so it wouldn't slide and send him tumbling onto the ground, nor excessively tight. Then the saddlebags, one on each side of the saddle.

He led Chiara out of the stables to where Donovan was waiting none too patiently. In short order, he found the stool most knights and their squires used to mount – the knights wearing heavy plate armor sometimes needed help from the stableboys, but Kaiba – thanks to whatever higher power was up there in the sky – did not.

In several minutes they were walking slowly towards the castle drawbridge. Once past the moat, Donovan went into a trot. Chiara followed the other horse – his name was Gryflet, Kaiba somehow knew – and then he was in for the worst experience of his life. The terrain outside the castle was in no account even – neither was the horse's pace. Up and down, up and down, up and down...it was endless.

_So you're saying the Seto Kaiba who's lived in Camelot all his life has never ridden a horse before?_ Set said with undisguised glee.

_Shut up_, he said miserably.

"How far is it to – " he began shouting over to Donovan, who was at least ten feet ahead, before the other's answer interrupted him.

"Not far. Only several hours' ride, as it's only been that long since Percival left."

Several hours?

Oh, no...

**xxxxx**

NEXT CHAPTER: Back to Gawain, Jonouchi, and the tale of the Green Knight.


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